Residents who opposed the project went home happy Tuesday night.
Wochit

More land-use battles are expected as Anderson County's population continues to grow

About 40 Powdersville residents came to a meeting Tuesday night in Anderson to oppose plans to build 51 townhouses on 5 acres near their neighborhood. The Anderson County Planning Commission voted to reject the Townhomes at Cravens Creek project.(Photo: Kirk Brown/Independent Mail)

Story Highlights

Residents have sought to stop three projects this month and a developer is suing the county

The county's population grew by 6 percent between 2010 and 2017 and the pace appears to be quickening

More than 1,700 housing units have been built in the county since 2017 at a cost of $297 million

About 40 Powdersville residents exchanged backslaps and hugs after a proposed townhouse project near their neighborhood was rejected.

But a smaller group of homeowners near Midway Elementary School grumbled and sighed when plans for a large-scale residential development advanced.

The scenes that played out at the Anderson County Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday night are expected to become more common as the county's population continues to grow, creating added pressure for development in once-rural areas where residents aren't eager to embrace more neighbors and change.

Anderson County's population increased by 6 percent to nearly 199,000 between 2010 and 2017. The pace of that growth appears to be quickening, said County Administrator Rusty Burns, whose staff now estimates that the county is home to 204,000 residents.

"They are not going to quit coming in," Burns said.

The growth already is leading to more development. More than $297 million was spent on residential development in Anderson County in the past 19 months, and the 874 units built so far this year already top the total of 867 for all 2017.

Burns views the influx of newcomers moving here for new jobs or to enjoy their retirements as a positive trend, but he is aware that there will some uncomfortable side effects, including more land-use disputes pitting residents against developers.

In recent months, the fast-growing Powdersville community has been at the center of a number of these disputes. County officials have approved nearly 1,200 housing units in Powdersville since the start 2017. Residents say traffic congestion is strangling the community while one of the area's top developers, Beeson Development, has filed a $42.5 million lawsuit alleging unfair treatment.

Bowing to opposition from residents and ignoring a staff recommendation, the planning commission voted Tuesday to reject Beeson Development's plans to build 51 townhouses on 5½ acres on Childers Circle.

Residents contended that Childers Circle is an old farm road that is too narrow to handle the extra traffic that the proposed Townhouses at Cravens Creek would create.

The debate also featured raw emotions on both sides.

Resident Amber Latham said Beeson Development is mainly focused on making money.

Joey Beeson spoke to the commission moments before they rejected his company's plans for the project. He said people in Powdersville know that the community is growing.

"It is a bit hypocritical to move into something knowing what the growth rate is and then saying, 'We all like it — we want to shut the door behind us,'" he said.

The disputes are not limited to the Powdersville area.

72 acres on Harriet Circle near the intersection of Crestview Road and Midway Road in Anderson Tuesday, August 14, 2018 is the site for a proposed housing development.
(Photo: BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff)

Earlier in Tuesday's meeting, the commission endorsed a rezoning request for the proposed Preston Trails development near Midway Elementary School despite objections from residents. Plans call for 180 homes to be built on a 72-acre tract that currently consists of pastures and woods. It is the largest project to come before the county's planning panel in 2018.

Paul Ehrlich said traffic from the development would overwhelm two-lane country roads that are already congested with school traffic.

"I've had a number of very close calls," he said.

Nancy Dill echoed his remarks, describing the current traffic in the area as "almost impossible."

The original plan for the development approved in 2007 called for 202 residential units and a two-acre commercial component.

Paul Harrison of Blue Water Civil Design said an updated plan for Preston Trails includes 25 acres of green space with sidewalks and walking trails, an additional entrance to the development and no businesses.

"We feel that this is a much better proposal," Harrison said.

The rezoning request must go to the County Council for final approval. Council Chairman Tommy Dunn attended Tuesday's planning commission meeting, sitting in the back row.

Dunn and the other council members currently are wrestling with another proposed rezoning request that has met strong opposition from residents. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston wants to use a large house in the Slabtown community as a group home for women experiencing crisis pregnancies.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM and email him at kirk.brown@independentmail.com